Luggage is used regularly by travelers to assist in moving belongings during both short and long excursions. Today, luggage manufacturers often equip luggage with wheels to assist travelers in moving the luggage, which depending on the type of luggage and the amount of belongings held inside, can be heavy. Wheels are coupled to some portion of the luggage, possibly a separate chassis coupled with the body of the luggage during its manufacture, and the user of the luggage either pulls or pushes the luggage such that the wheels roll along the ground and support the luggage. In this fashion, the user must only exert enough force to make the wheels turn, a significantly smaller force than is required to pick up and move the luggage manually.
Other devices used regularly by travelers are portable electronic devices. Mobile phones, personal data assistants, portable audio/video devices, portable video games, cameras, and handheld/notebook/laptop computers are just a few of the many devices that make traveling easier and more convenient. These devices are equipped with batteries that store power for use by the devices. However, when the batteries are exhausted, the devices are inoperable unless a source of power is available to recharge the batteries and/or supply power directly to the device in lieu of battery power.
Airports, train stations, bus terminals, and mass transit locations may not necessarily have power outlets available for travelers to recharge and/or power portable electronic devices. When power outlets are available, they may be so few in number as to allow only a minimal number of travelers access to them. Furthermore, travelers are often not stationary for a long enough period of time to plug into a power outlet and wait to recharge because they are moving between areas such as parking lots, check-in counters, baggage claims, and/or terminals.
Even when access to a power outlet is available, many portable electronic devices may have a Universal Serial Bus (“USB”) plugs to connect to a USB receptacle for power source in a laptop or USB hub rather than a separate power supply that can be plugged into a standard outlet receptacle. In this case, unless the traveler can access a powered computer having a USB connection, or has a powered laptop or notebook computer having a USB connection, there will be no way to power the device to recharge its batteries. Additionally, a laptop or notebook computer will also require a power source if battery power in the computer is low or exhausted.
In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have the same reference label. Where the reference label is used in the specification, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same reference label.